On January 3rd, I started an informal Sugar Detox. It was going to last all month, but I cut it short after 21 days when this beautiful tempura ice cream landed on the table at Sunday Brunch. That's not bad, I'm proud of how far I have come. My goal was not about weight loss (if anything, I think my waistline resents all of the unsweetened peanut butter I had for dessert), but to be more aware of the sugar in processed foods. Mission accomplished! My sweet tooth has also been curbed, and that means a lot. The most dramatic change has been in how I take my cappuccinos, no sugar! And the fact that I'm mostly OK with fruit for dessert. It's also been three weeks since I munched on processed cereal bars. Instead I've had tons of veggies, more veggies and unsweetened peanut or macadamia butter. Yummy!
I also read a fantastic book by Doreen Virtue: Constant Craving. The food we eat fills our tummy but it often satisfies an emotional need. Especially when we tend to crave certain types of foods and not others. The ones I'm most drawn to paint an interesting picture of my personality. Here is what I discovered:
- Spice up your life! If we're constantly craving hot sauce and spicy food, it might be excitement that we are after. Do I put hot sauce on everything because I'm bored, or because I'm from Mexico? Tough call. I might eat more spicy foods that most of my countrymen, and often I'll go looking for crunchy snacks just so that I can cover them with chilli powder. My favorite is cucumbers with lime and chili powder but potato chips work just as well.
- Peanuts and Peanut Butter: This is about fun! Snickers and Reese's are my favorite chocolate bars. Barely any chocolate and lots of peanut. It also dawned on me that I am happy in jobs with a high fun factor. Other business school graduates look for high stakes positions and intellectual challenges. For me it's about fun. My favorite role was pribably sports and movie marketing at a cola company. Followed by product launches and advertising, which were both creative. I ended up leaving both of these jobs when the fun, creative side dried up. No fun, no joy.
- Crunchy Snacks: Stress buster! My jaw is often tense, and in her book Doreen tells us that crunchy snacks help us release that tension. The only thing that has made it go away for longer periods of time is acupuncture.
- Salty Foods: Another stress buster, if my memory is correct.
This book is a fantastic read for healers. I would recommend it to therapists as well, you can ask your clients a few questions to get an idea of what they're looking for on a subconscious level. It was written for personal use, healing, and to analyze our cravings.
I give it Five Stars!
No comments:
Post a Comment